We study the geometry of the set of closed extensions of index $0$ of
an elliptic differential cone operator and its model operator in
connection with the spectra of the extensions, and we give a necessary
and sufficient condition for the existence of rays of minimal growth
for such operators.

We study closed extensions $\underline A$ of
an elliptic differential operator $A$ on a manifold with conical
singularities, acting as an unbounded operator on a weighted $L_p$-space.
Under suitable conditions we show that the resolvent
$(\lambda-\underline A)^{-1}$ exists
in a sector of the complex plane and decays like $1/|\lambda|$ as
$|\lambda|\to\infty$. Moreover, we determine the structure of the resolvent
with enough precision to guarantee existence and boundedness of imaginary
powers of $\underline A$.
As an application we treat the Laplace--Beltrami operator for a metric with
straight conical degeneracy and describe domains yielding
maximal regularity for the Cauchy problem $\dot{u}-\Delta u=f$, $u(0)=0$.